“Cityread, under the imaginative, clever and ridiculously hard-working Andy Ryan, is an all-round winner. A project such as Cityread which brings together London's variety and creativity to focus on and work with one shared experience is a boon and a gift.”

Girlguides mark World Book Night with Cityread

On Saturday 23 April 2016, 2nd Bow Guides, Girlguiding London North East County, shared their love of reading with their local community on World Book Night by handing out books they had received from Canongate, who kindly donated 100 copies of their recent Cityread novel Ten Days. Positioned outside Bow Road Station, armed with books and a smile, it was a great learning experience for the Guides.

Erin, one of the girls, described the experience as follows:

As part of World Book Night, me and my fellow guide Ruby Wilkinson handed out the fabulous read, Ten Days, at Bow Road Station on Saturday afternoon. This once in a lifetime opportunity is definitely an experience that I shall take on board for future reference; talking to the public has helped my character become much stronger.

Many people showed different responses to my strategy on handing out books. A vast majority of them were positive and uplifting, but some people responded with questionable reactions such as turning it down, walking away or simply ignoring me.

However, I believe that the hassle would have been lessened if some of the other Guides hadn’t missed out on the pleasure of handing out free books as the occasion would have had the potential to reach a higher number of people.

Huge thanks to those at Cityread and Canongate for making this World Book Night a success – can’t wait for next year!

Their unit leader, Tania Mendes, further told us how important it is to listen and give the girls a voice:

We asked the girls if they’d be interested in doing something to mark World Book Night and they unanimously said yes… Seeing them taking an active role in their community and finding their voice by speaking to different passers-by was incredible. It was also a good way to talk about Girlguiding indirectly. We’ve even had a few new Guides as a consequence which is brilliant news as a new unit.

For more information on Girlguiding and how to get involved, please visit their website here.